Rhymes and Ruins
by keiththepaladin
Summary: A series of single-stories, based upon the Shadowhunter Children's Rhyme
1. Black for Hunting Through the Night

Black for hunting through the night

The ominous feeling of the night seeped into Livia Blackthorn's veins. The cold air sent a shiver down her spine, despite the warm gear she was suited in. Perhaps it was the adrenaline from the hunt that was sure to come.

She glanced beside her, at her brother, who was trotting along the street with his nose in a book. Light shone from the lamps surrounding them, giving his outline an angelic glow. The gear hung loosely from his body, signs of it being too large for him.

"Ty," Livia sighed, "you should put the book away before something happens." Whether he heard her or not, she couldn't tell. But he didn't respond in any way to her remark.

The twins trudged along in silence, the only noises were their light footsteps along the path. Various thoughts rang through Livia's head. _Where would they end up? What would happen? How could she stop the worst from occurring?_

It was sudden movement on her right, where Ty was walking, that snapped her out of her thoughts. She spun around at a quickened pace, drawing her broadsword, ready to strike.

There was nothing there, except her brother in a daze, looking at her from the floor.

"Ty! What happened?" Livia's voice was high with panic.

Ty merely blinked his grey eyes at her, before "I tripped." Livia extended her hand, to help him stand back up.

It was a false alarm. They were okay.

She sighed again, this time with relief. When Tiberius was standing up again, after brushing all of the dust from the dark street off of him.

"And that is why you don't read while walking! How many times have we been over this?" but he wasn't listening to a word she uttered. He was scanning the ground around as though he were looking for something.

"Livvy, I can't find my book." His grey eyes were wide. She made a disapproving click of her tongue, before starting to look for the said-thing.

Ty wouldn't let them leave otherwise.

"Well, we better start looking for it." Livvy tried to hide her frustration, something that usually was not had for her. Usually, she could keep her cool.

"You're irritated with me." A lie. At least it was a good one.

"I'm not, Ty."

He didn't respond with words, but let out a sudden gasp. Livia turned around, trying to see what he has seen. She was greeted by him, staring into one of the dark side-alleys, pointing right to it.

Livia crept up to his side to peer into the alley. It was dark, with only one patch of light illuminating a rectangular object. It was Ty's book.

All at once, Livia's sensor started ringing, warning her of impending danger, while Tiberius lunged forward, and reaching for his book and a scream rang from Livia's lips, warning him.

And then the book vanished, a demon in its place. Livia sprinted in front of her brother, drawing out her sword. It flew at her in a quick motion, which she deflected against her sword. _Stay calm, block, then jab._ Slowly, she was being overpowered, and there was nothing she could do about it. She drew in a deep breath, before swinging again. _Have to keep going. For Ty, for all of them._

Its tail swung her to the wall, and she hit against it hard. A pain stung through her side. Her sword slid across the cobbled floor, away from her reach. The demon towered over her, its claws scratching her.

She was terrified.

She tried to kick at it, or throw a punch, but she was pinned in a position that wouldn't allow it. The pressure it had on her torso was making it difficult to breathe, crushing her.

Its face was coming closer to her, and she could smell the stench of its breath as it growled at her. She was trapped, as she braced herself for her imminent death. She squinted her eyes shut, ready for the impact. But it never came.

Ever so slowly, she opened her eyes to reveal nothing, the weight leaving her chest. She looked around, to see Ty holding his book and the demon lying on the floor, unmoving. She stood up, still staring at Ty.

"You…saved me."

"Of course I did, Livia. Honestly, I wasn't going to let you die. So I hit it with my novel, it seemed to get rid of it. Lucky 'The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes' is a rather large book." he said, giving a pointed look at the book in his hand. "Plus, you've spent 15 years saving me, I thought it was only fair to save you too."

A smile spread across Livia's face, despite the lingering pains in her body.

"I love you, Tiberius."

"Yes, I know. But now we both know for next time that it is rather proper to bring a book on a hunt, so don't argue with me. And let's get you back to the institute, you need medical attention."

Livia took the hand that Ty offered her, as he helped support her on the way back to the institute. Perhaps things with her twin would never change.

And in hindsight, perhaps she didn't want them too.


	2. For Death and Mourning the Color's White

**I am aware that I am awful at updating things within a reasonable time frame. But I hope you all enjoy this!**

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Helen could do nothing but watch as her family fell apart. There was nothing that she could say or do that would make it okay.

She looked back up into her bedroom mirror, taking in her own ghostly appearance. She was clad in a white dress, paired with matching shoes and jewelry. There were only two splashes of colour on her at all. Those were her eyes, still a brilliant shade of blue, and the dark circles under them.

For what seemed like endless nights, Helen hadn't slept. None of the LA institute inhabitants had. For many nights in a row, Helen had been awoken by screams and cries during the night. It kept herself, Mark and her father up.

It hurt her heart to see her baby siblings in so much pain. It hurt to see them have to lose their mother.

It hurt Helen too, but she tried to be strong for them. All of them. Her siblings, and her father.

It wasn't uncommon knowledge that Andrew Blackthorn absolutely adored Eleanor. And Helen saw her father's heart shatter for the second time in his life as she passed away in the institutes infirmary.

At least little Octavian survived. He was an absolutely beautiful baby. Yet, very unhappy. Helen didn't blame him.

A knock at her door pulled Helen out of her thoughts.

"Come in," she never locked her door any more. There was always a sibling that ended up in there. She was surprised when Mark entered her room, a blank expression on his face. He slowly closed the door after he stepped in, as though he was trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Hey, you. I haven't seen you all week. Is everything alright?" Helen inquired.

"Yeah, just-" he seemed to hesitate before he spoke again. "I've been sleeping in Drusilla's room. She doesn't want to be alone."

"That's good of you. I've been dealing with the rest of them. Dad needs time, I'm trying to give it to him."

"When did you grow up?"

"When I had to." He walked around the room to go sit on the foot of the bed. He too was wearing white.

"Are you ready for today?" He asked.

"I don't exactly have an option, Mark." He looked down, and Helen walked over to where he was sitting.

"I'm sorry, that was cruel." Helen took another breath before continuing, "I know you're hurting too. And I'm sorry I can't be there for you like I should be. The truth be told, you've had to grow up more in the last couple of weeks as well. And now you've lost two mothers, and I'm sorry. By the Angel, I'm so sorry." A sob slipped through Helen's pale lips as she finished, her speaking quickening as she went on.

Mark wrapped his arms around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

She didn't know how much time they had spent sitting there before there was another knock at the door.

The siblings readjusted themselves, and Helen rose to go answer the door.

Her father was standing at the doorway, also dressed in white, which made him look even paler than he was.

"Are you okay, baby girl?" He asked, noticing her appearance.

"Yeah, dad," she lied, not wanting to pun any more unnecessary stress onto her father, "Of course I'm fine."

"I'm glad. By any chance, have you seen Mark? We need to leave in about two minutes if we want to get there on time." Andrew's voice was sad. Sadder than Helen could ever remember hearing.

"I'm in here!" he yelled, louder than necessary.

"I hear that, Mark. Are you both ready to go?"

"Yeah, dad, just give us a minute," He forced a smile out, and walked away, closing the door behind him.

Helen spun around and looked over at her brother, who was still sitting on the edge of her bed, his eyebrows raised at her.

"What was that, Mark Antony?"

"I didn't want him to think I was anything besides my usual self."

''I'll consider that a legitimate answer, okay? Now come on, we've got to make sure all the kids are good to go." Helen said, walking to the door. She could hear her brother coming after her, following her out.

In the corridor, she was greeted by both of the twins, holding hands and looking at her.

"What's wrong, guys?" she asked, in what mark would call her 'older-sister-voice'.

Livia spoke for the both of them, "Dad is busy with the babies, and Jules is with Emma, and we got lonely."

"Well, little Livvy," it was Mark who spoke this time, "We're about to leave now. Are you both ready to go?"

"I don't want to go! I don't want to say goodbye to mommy!" Livvy screamed, and then started crying. Which was only followed by Tiberius's bawling as well.

Mark and Helen exchanged a glance, one that could only be translated as _today is going to be full of tears, isn't it?_

Mark knelt down in front of the twins, and whispered something that Helen couldn't hear from where she was standing. Almost immediately, the stopped crying (which surprised Helen) and ran off, presumably downstairs.

Mark got up off the ground, and winked at her.

"What did you say to them? It normally takes me hours to calm them down."

"Older brothers have our tricks, Helen. Now we better go, I think they'll all need us to be there."

It was when Helen grabbed her brother's hand, and walked down the hall she decided that with her family by her side, she could do almost anything. Perhaps she could put her family back together.


End file.
